email containing token with high spamcount only gets an unsure

[David Relson]

On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 11:08:25 +0200
Gerrit Thede wrote:

> Hi,
> another thing just came to my mind: I'm using bogofilter with kmail
> and the predefined spam filter actions:
> 
> All incoming messages get checked like this:
> 
> bogofilter -p -e -u
> 
> All spam goes into a spam folder.
> 
> If I have spam in my inbox with an "unsure", I hit another filter
> action:
> 
> bogofilter -N -s
> 
> Is that maybe the problem? Should I use only "bogofilter  -s" without
> unregistering for messages bogofilter is unsure about?
> 
> Regards, Gerrit

Right.  "-u" registers the message _only_ if the message is scored as
ham or spam.  As it does not update the wordlist when the message is
unsure, using the "-N" is wrong.

"-N -s" is appropriate for false negatives, i.e. spam that is
classified as ham.

"-S -n" is used for false positives -- ham that is scored as spam.

When using "-u", you should be diligent and check for errors.  The
false negatives are generally easy to spot -- for example, a "get rich
quick" message in your inbox.  False positives are a bit harder to spot
as they end up with all the spam.